July 26 Update

Dear Incoming McCall Families,

I hope this message finds you well.  As summer vacation approaches its midpoint, I would like to provide everyone an update of the work the school has been doing in preparation for the 19-20 school year.  

RULER Institute - Thanks to the generosity of WFEE, I, along with three McCall colleagues, attended the RULER institute conducted by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence last week.  Many of you are familiar with the RULER approach to teaching social emotional learning given what your students learned during their elementary years.  For those of you who are not familiar with it, RULER stands for Recognizing, Understanding, Labeling, Expressing, and Regulating one’s emotions.  At the heart of the RULER approach is the understanding that emotions matter, and they are important pieces of information that play a critical role in our decision-making process.  If we are not able to recognize, understand, label, express, and regulate our emotions, we will not be able to effectively make decisions that would lead us to reach our goals.

When people talk about teaching middle schoolers, they often talk about the challenge of working with a group of students who are prone to get very moody and emotional.  The approach that many adults who work with adolescents take is to ignore those expressions of emotions or to teach students to suppress those feelings.  Doing so can lead the emotions to come out later and drive some very unhealthy and destructive behaviors.  This is why we as educators of adolescents need to know how to help them learn how to manage their emotions.

This coming year, all of the McCall staff and teachers will spend time increasing our learning about emotions and the RULER approach.   We will be thinking about the roles that emotions play in how we interact with the students and each other and how they are involved in the way we work toward teaching the whole child.

I would like to invite you and your students to participate in the following voluntary activity and practice recognizing and labeling your emotions.

• Invite your student to find a picture of himself or herself engaging in a summer activity that made them feel very pleasant and which involved a high level of energy.  Ask your student to name the emotion that was captured in the photograph.  Please name that picture file by using this format: StudentFirstInitialLastName_Emotion.jpg.  Please use this link to submit your picture.  Attached here is an exemplar.  This picture is of my son “dancing” shortly after last school year concluded.  The emotion he said he felt was “elated”.  The file name is JLin_Elated.jpg.

• Next, invite your student to find a picture of himself or herself engaging in a summer activity that made them feel very pleasant and which involved a low level of energy.  Ask your student to name the emotion they were feeling at that moment in time.  Please name that picture file by using this format: StudentFirstInitialLastName_Emotion.jpg.  Please use the link included above to submit your picture.  Attached here is an exemplar.  This picture is of my son and daughter at the summit of Mt. Monadnock.  The emotion my daughter said she felt was “proud”.  The file name is JLin_Proud.jpg.

Please note that the pictures you submit will be compiled into a slideshow which will be shown to members of the McCall community.  The picture files themselves will not be shared with any other person.  Please remember that this activity is voluntary.

Construction Update - Phase II of the McCall Renovation Project is proceeding well.  The foundation of the new wing continues to be built.  By next week, the walls of the foundation will be up.  The construction company is also working on converting the storage area in the Basement wing into a new staff workroom.  The framing of the space is almost completed, and when that happens electrical work will begin.  Attached here are some pictures for you reference.

Preparing for the Start of School - We are still on track to release the student schedules and teaming information at around August 15.  Don’t forget the School Supplies information are posted on the school website for those of you who are early planners.  I also encourage you to sign up for the McCall Principal’s Blog if you would like to receive weekly updates during the school year.  I use this method to update everyone on McCall happenings weekly when the school year starts.  In order to prevent flooding your inboxes, I will only email you directly when I have to share need-to-know information.

Lastly, I will be away starting this weekend until August 14, so please contact Assistant Principal Lavoie at jlavoie@winchesterps.org if you have any urgent matter that needs to be addressed.  I wish all of you will continue to have a fun and relaxing summer vacation, and I am looking forward to seeing all of your summer pictures!

Sincerely,

James Lin

Principal

McCall Middle School

July 8 Update

Dear Incoming 7^th and 8^th Grade Parents and Guardians,

I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday week.  If you no longer wish to receive updates from this Blog, please do not forget you can unsubscribe by clicking the link at the bottom of this message.  

It has been a long time since we had so few snow days during a school year, so it is quite a treat to be able to end school in mid-June as opposed to the end of the month.  We had been using these additional time in June to put the finishing touches on last school year and to work to prepare for the 19-20 school year.  Our administrative assistants and guidance counselors had been working hard to make sure the student records and important student information are updated and are sent to the right places.  The custodial and DPW staff is hard at work to make sure the facilities are cleaned and repaired for September.  We have quite a lot of teachers changing their classrooms due to our work to keep team teachers close together in order to reduce amount of traveling students have to do between classes and to accommodate the increased number of staff hired as the result of the approved override, so I thank the building maintenance staff for helping us with all the moves we have to make over the summer.

Although the faculty is not teaching during the summer, many of them are using the time to improve their practices.  Several McCall teachers participated in professional development opportunities held by the district to improve their understanding of differentiated instruction and social emotional learning.  Many more teachers will be taking part in co-teaching professional development sessions in the upcoming weeks.

You may not think a lot of construction is going on at McCall if you were to walk or drive past the front of our building, however, a lot of progress has been made with the Phase II Classroom/Cafeteria construction work since the school year ended.  The hill, the staircase, and the porch that resided between Knowlton Field and the cafeteria have been completely demolished setting the stage for the construction of the foundation for the expanded cafeteria and the six new classrooms.  The construction crew is currently building the irrigation system of this new area and extending the plumbing system from the existing building to it.  I am very appreciative of how willing the construction company and the town are willing to cooperate with my staff and me to ensure the construction will cause minimal impact to the school’s operation.  Attached are some pictures to give you a sense of the progress that is being made.  For those of you who frequent the track located at the back of McCall, please note that it is still accessible despite the construction.  However, we highly recommend everyone to pay attention to the fencing and the signs put up by the construction company so you do not accidentally wonder into the construction zone.

I would also like to take this opportunity to remind everyone of a few other things.  Please see below:

Summer Reading and Math Review for Incoming 7^th Graders – I would like to give everyone a gentle reminder that the summer reading information for all incoming students is now posted on the school website (please click here).  Please make sure you review it if you have not done so already.

The 6^th grade math teachers have created a math review packet for all students entering 7^th grade.  It is highly recommended - but not required - for all incoming 7^th graders regardless of which math level they will be entering to review what they have learned last school year in order to prevent summer learning loss.  You can access the review packet by clicking here.

School Supplies – Please note that the school supplies list is now posted on the school website for those of you who likes to plan ahead (please click here).   Due to the fact that all students have access to Chromebooks or other electronic devices for their learning, and most teachers use online tools such as Google Classroom to post assignments and help students organize their academic responsibilities, we will not be purchasing agenda planners for students next year.  Instead, that fund will be used to acquire resources that align with our school and district goals such as increase the use of performance based assessments and expanding the world language program.  I understand some students may prefer to keep track of their academic responsibilities by using agenda books instead of electronic devices.  If that is the case with your child, we recommend you purchase an agenda book for him or her.

Schedules and Team Placement – My administrative staff are finalizing team placements and student schedules.  We are on par to release your students’ schedules through the Aspen Family Portal at the middle of next month.  I will be notifying you through email as soon as we are ready to release that information.

Thank you and I wish all of you continue to enjoy your summer.

James Lin

Principal

McCall Middle School